Collision Course
by MrSchimpf
Summary: Paris unexpectedly finally finds true love one day on her way to class. But not with Tristan, just to say that up front.


Collision Course **Title:** Collision Course   
**Author**: [MrSchimpf][1], please read & review.   
**Disclaimer**: I do not own the trademarks on _Gilmore Girls_, they are the property of Warner Bros. Television, Dorothy Parker   
Drank Here, Hofflund-Polone, and Amy Sherman-Palladino. I'm just using the characters to tell a story.   
**Summary**: Paris unexpectedly finally finds true love one day on her way to class.   
**Inspired by**: My thoughts and dreams.   
**Category**: 3rd person POV, Paris romance.   
**Rating**: PG, minor swearing, and kissing.   
**Alternate Universe**: Yes, I felt it was about time someone wrote a story about Paris falling in love with someone.   
**Author's Note**:Clark is a character of my imagination, he has not appeared in the show at all. And about my true-to-life portrayal of Hartford (i.e. road names), I've never been there at all, I just have a great mapping program to reference each point in the story. 

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One day, Paris was running in the hall towards her locker between classes because she forgot her Asian Literature text. What a day to forget my book, she thought, I should've learned the first time that if I stop by my locker to pick up this book before the class, I'll be late. The class was on the other side of the building, and there was two minutes left in passing time, so she had to hurry. She rushed through the corridor like a marathon runner, desperate to beat the one thing she dreaded most at Chilton; tardiness. She hated it with a passion, not only did it make her lose valuable learning time, it would be a black mark on her record for all time. Plus the embarrassment of coming into a class late was always in the back of her mind, she'd been ten minutes late once back in second grade, and was called "Late Girl" for the rest of the year. 

About seven doors down from the class, Paris was about to slow down, when WHAM!, she slammed right into another student who was headed the other way at the same speed. Suddenly, she lost her balance, and before she knew it, her body slammed into the hard linoleum floor, while the books she was carrying in a tote bag at her side flew out of the bag and poured out all over the floor. Paris lay in a strange position on the ground, stunned at the magnitude of crashing into the other student. Meanwhile, the other student, a guy, had slowed down in time so he didn't fall, but he was startled at the magnitude of Paris' crash. 

Luckily, she was all right and not hurt, except her back had alot of pain in it, and after a few seconds, shouted at the guy, "Hey moron, watch where you're going!". She tried to get herself up, but because she was a little disorientated yet, she didn't know where to plant her hand to get some leverage. 

"Here miss, let me help you up," said the other student as he took Paris' hand and helped her get back up. And then he started gathering the stray books that littered the hallway. 

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to run into you like that", he told Paris, who was not amused to see him lightly laughing at what happened. "I feel like I owe you something for doing that to you". After he had put all her books back in the tote bag, he gave it back to her. 

Paris just wanted to get to class. "I don't have time for this buddy, I'm going to be late, so if you want to exchange insurance information with me, meet me at my locker after class.", she sniped at him. "Okay, I'll do that, what's your locker number?" She shouted as she ran towards the classroom, "4186, now if you'll excuse me..", rushing her way into the class just as the bell rang. The student looked at her as she headed into the room, paused, then said under his breath, "I hope everything goes well later", and he headed off to his own class. 

At the end of the day, Paris was back at her locker, trying to decide which books to to put in a duffel bag to take home and study. After the running incident, she had forgotten about the other student she slammed into. She shut her locker, and then was startled to see that person standing right next to her by her locker. 

"Hey, you told me to meet you here, so I'm here to apologize. Miss, I'm sorry I ran into you like that, I should've been watching where I was going, and I feel I owe you something." 

She went right off in front of him. "You should be sorry kid! You made me late, and I lost my way during class, I never caught up. By the way, it's not 'Miss', it's Paris, that's my name. Now I'm going to have to go home and head right for the hot tub because my body hurts like hell from slamming into you! And what's this about owing me something, I don't need anything." She was really angry at him, and hoped he would get the point and get away from her. But he persisted. 

"Well, nice to meet you Paris, I'm Clark, and I want to make it up to you for all that stuff that happened by taking you out for a coffee on me. How about it Paris?" 

Paris had a scathing remark ready to go, and was about to say it, until she heard the word "out". As in going out. The word echoed through her head, he wants to take me OUT for coffee. Me, Paris Gellar. Me, who spends every waking hour studying to try to get into Harvard. Me, who thinks the Spanish Inquisition makes for a great dating conversation, and who had to have her mother get her cousin to take me out on the most disastrous date of my life. Why would he want to go OUT with ME? 

Then she had to reassure herself that maybe Clark had no interest in her, and was helping her cope with her bad day by taking her out for coffee. Yeah, that was it, he's just being friendly. 

But then Paris had to admit that she'd ran into a cute looking guy. He was tall and had great hair, his hands felt nice in hers when he helped her up, and his build was strong -- snap out of it Paris, she thought, he probably has no interest in you, he just wants you to have some coffee. But she felt nervous around him. Knee-knocking nervous. Quivering hands nervous. Goosebumps nervous. Had she found a guy whom she liked as much as -- no, couldn't be, it's just my hormones gone wild, she thought, heat of the moment thing. She looked at him with her mouth aghast, like she wanted to say something, but the words wouldn't come out. 

"Paris," Clark said, finally snapping her back into reality, "We gotta go get that coffee before it gets cold, are you coming with?" 

She struggled to find the words to form a coherent answer. "Uh, um...yeah, let's go, uh, quickly, don't want cold coffee, heh heh". Definitely not a valedictorian moment, she thought to herself. Then, she tried to lift the duffel bag, but the European history book she put in it added too much weight to the bag, and she couldn't raise it off the floor, it was just too heavy for her to lift. Funny thing is, usually she could lift this thing with more books in it easily. Was she getting butterflies... 

"Do you want me to carry your bag?", asked Clark. 

Paris managed to form an even less comprehensible sentence than the last one. "Uh, hmm, sure, go ahead and take me -- um, I mean my bag, ha." In less than a minute Paris had turned from the intellectual center of Chilton Prep, into a blubbering fool, she was falling under the spell of Clark for some reason, and all because of some coffee, and running too fast in the corridor. 

She decided to keep her mouth shut as the two left Chilton, through the same hall they had collided in. Paris was horrified at her behavior towards Clark. She was supposed to be the level-headed study girl in this school. She was not a boy-crazy vessel with a small brain like her "friends" Madeline and Louise. She was not supposed to be this way, she wasn't supposed to care about boys, only about getting into Harvard. For crisakes, she owned a lipstick that was the same shade as her lips, owned a very minimal wardrobe, and never wore makeup. Paris Gellar is supposed to be as unattractive to the opposite sex as can be possible without regularly bathing. Instead, she's finding herself gawking in awe at this guy named Clark, who should've been torn apart by her insults and demands by now. And now she's headed out the door with him, knowing him for only twenty minutes. My hormones are now saying I love this guy, she thought, this is crazy! What have I gotten myself into, Paris asked herself. 

Clark decided that they should take Paris' Mercedes to the coffeehouse, because he'd been dropped off by a friend at school that morning. He threw her bag into the backseat, and made himself comfortable in the passenger's seat while Paris got into the car. She tried to keep her emotions for Clark under control while she drove to the coffeehouse in downtown Hartford, but it wasn't easy. When the car was at a stoplight, she glanced over at Clark to look at his clean-shaven face. He was being a perfect gentleman so far, she thought, and here I am, being the worst hostess possible. She decided to try and strike up a conversation now that she felt she could keep one up without flubbling words, with the only topic she knew. 

"Um, so what do you think of the Spanish Inquisition?" 

Stupid move Paris, she told herself, you might as well have asked what his sign was! 

"You don't deal with the opposite sex much, do you?", he said, looking at her face as she focused on the rush hour traffic on I-84. She decided that maybe that they should start by having more natural conversations. 

"Wow, you can tell, can't you? You're so smart about that!" She smiled shyly and laughed a little. She already knew what the next question he asked was going to be, she had a prepared answer in her mind already. 

"So Paris, why were you named that, were you born there or conceived there or something?" 

"No, of course not, I'm a Hartford girl. My mother had a few too many birthing drugs in her system when she gave birth to me, and her midwife had suggested she name me after an European city. But the problem was, my mom was so drugged up, she took the suggestion a little too seriously, and decided to name me, get ready, Liverpool!" 

"She didn't, you mean your name could have been Liverpool Gellar?! That's just too funny!" Clark starting laughing really loud. 

"The doctors in the delivery room were shocked, they thought my mom was horrible for calling me that. And then my dad stepped in. He suggested I be named Evelyn after my grandmother, and suddenly after I was born, I had witnessed my first fight between my parents!" 

Clark was now convulsing in laughter. "So how the heck did they arrive at Paris then?" 

"Well, my pediatrician decided to hold off making the birth certificate until my mom recovered from her high, and my father had calmed down a little. Once my mother realized her mistake, she decided my name by flipping a coin between Shannon, Ireland and Paris, France, two suggestions from my grandpa. Paris was heads, Paris became my name. My dad settled for Evelyn being my middle name, and the midwife never worked again after that." Paris was actually really happy to have finally been able to share that story with someone else. 

"And this was all true? You mean all of this?" 

"Oh yeah, it's taught me one thing, that I should decide the name of my child long before I give birth, otherwise I'm going to end up with a kid named Ho Chi Minh Gellar!" 

Paris was now laughing so hard at her joke, she had to pull off to the side of the road to continue her chuckling. Clark was looking at her like she was the funniest person in the world at that moment, he had witnessed what few other people had, seeing a laughing and smiling Paris Gellar. And he loved what he saw, that she was going to be a wonderful girlfriend to have, if he ever got the courage up to ask her. He knew that asking her to have coffee with him was a good first step, and a good way to get Paris to trust him, because he was trying to be her confidant slowly. 

After Paris had composed herself, she pulled back onto the road, and her and Clark started having a great conversation about stuff like favorite colors, their hopes and dreams, and which schools they wanted to go to after Chilton. Clark wanted to go to Wisconsin because he visited Madison once, and loved how beautiful that city is. But his father was hellbent on him continuing his family's tradition of going to Columbia. 

"I hate New York City, it's too crowded, plus there's so much you have to do to get into Columbia," he said, "I loved Madison though, that city is so great, they have miles of parks, and some of the city is in between big lakes, so it looks so perfect at night with the Capitol looming over the lake. And there's so much to do in that town, like swim and boat or ride a bike. Plus there's little crime, so I wouldn't have to live in fear everytime I walked across the campus." 

Paris sympathized with him. "I'm lucky, my mother agrees with me wanting to go to Harvard, so she's happy and I'm happy. You must fight with your father all the time over little stuff like that, huh?" 

"Yeah, that's all we do is fight. He was mad at me one night because I was a couple minutes late for dinner, so he grounded me for a week. I wish I could convince him somehow I want to go to Wisconsin, but he's just too stubborn to budge. He's always like, you have to go to this school, because I'm in good with the school, and I don't want to have to pay much for it. He doesn't realize how hard it is to get into Columbia, they expect you to impress them." 

"And isn't Wisconsin a state school?", Paris asked. "It would be a lot cheaper than Columbia, and you could get in even if you didn't get the most impressive grades--" 

"Which I don't have," he interrupted. "I'm barely pulling a C+ in Calculus right now, and Columbia wants at least an A- for that class." His voice started cracking at the stress put upon him by his father, and Clark felt horrible that he was unloading this on Paris. 

She parked the car in front of the coffeeshop, and turned to face him. "Don't worry about going to college now Clark", she said, looking into his deep, dark eyes, "You have two years yet to convince him you really want to go to Wisconsin. If you work hard and can stay on his good side, he just might relent and let you go." 

She then involuntarily patted him on his back as if to say it was okay. When she saw what she was doing, she panicked and put her hand back into her lap, but it was too late, Clark had noticed, and he loved her gesture. "I suppose you're right Paris, it's too early to think about it, and he might change his mind yet. Thank you for comforting me like that, you're a great person to talk to." 

Paris blushed when she looked at him, and was happy he felt better. "Your welcome Clark, it felt good doing that." She hadn't felt this way since the date with Tristan three months ago, and wanted to talk to Clark more, she didn't even care about the coffee anymore. Still she couldn't tell Clark that, yet. She got out of the car, and told him "Clark, come on, I can't wait to have that cup of coffee." 

"Yeah, you would be excited because I'm paying for it!", he said as he climbed out of the car and directed a smile and a laugh towards Paris. She laughed out loud, and said "Hey, free coffee always makes me happy." 

The coffeehouse was tucked into a nice corner of downtown on Allyn Street near the statehouse. Paris had been to this place many times before, because it was a nice and quiet place to study when there were too many people at the free library and she didn't want to study at home. It had a nice and calming atmosphere to it, with lots of light streaming in through the front window, and soft music playing through the speakers. The staff was friendly and very talkative to Paris if she ever needed to blow off some steam, and because not many people knew about it, the only time the store was busy was when the Starbucks a few blocks away was too busy or closed. The shop had huge tables in the middle of the store that Paris could spread out all her things on, just like the big table in her room at home, and all she needed to do to get that space was buy a nice cup of coffee. It was also the only shop in town where Paris could have soy milk in her coffee for free and not get a dirty look, because other stores assumed she only wanted it because it was cool, and charged her a dollar plus extra. 

They each walked into the store and ordered, Clark had a black cup of coffee, while Paris ordered her usual hazelnut with soy milk. Clark asked why she ordered it that way. 

"The gods weren't too kind to me, they made me lactose intolerant, I hate that part of myself. I can't have anything dairy, not even coffee with milk. If I even eat an M&M, my stomach doesn't feel too good afterwards. I'll be happy the day they find the cure for it, cause I've always wanted to eat a whole bag of candy bars in one night." 

"Well Paris, maybe the gods were trying to make you unique, sometimes I wish I had something like a food allergy, I'm just a boring kid with lots of money and no use for it. I don't see why people have to treasure money so much, it's stupid. I can't wait for the day I leave home, so I won't have to worry about impressing people anymore. I just want to go to college and be a normal person, with the only worries I have being which fraternity I want to go to, and if Napster is still going to be up when I go." 

Paris was really loving this guy, he was the most honest and opinionated man she had ever met. And he called her unique, which sent a nice feeling through her body, like she was the only girl his heart was after. At least she hoped he wanted her. 

They continued talking about things over their cups at a nice little table in a corner of the shop. They talked about their families, Chilton, and the news. Paris and Clark couldn't stop talking to each other, they went on and on about each topic until they had exhausted all conversation on it and moved on. 

Two cups later, Clark felt comfortable enough to broach the topic of the Formal and Paris' horrible date with her cousin Jacob. 

Paris felt at ease talking to Clark about it. "Ah yes, that wonderful night in December of which I'd rather forget about. Jacob just did it for the gas money, and to get revenge on me for pushing him off a swing eight years ago. After I called his girlfriend and told her about the nightmare of a date I had with him, he became the dateless laughingstock of Wethersfield." 

"Now why would he do that? You're talking to me right now like I've known you all my life, and he didn't even want anything to do with you, even if he had to fake it." 

"He's just an ass, his girlfriend even told me that. He has this need to be controlling of every aspect of his mate's life, and when he gets older, it's not going to be pretty if he has to start doing stuff for his wife, if he gets one." Paris said, laughing at the end of the sentence. 

"I saw you there with him Paris, and all I have to say is, you looked beautiful, he should've been happy to be seen with you.", Clark said, giving her a look of admiration. 

"Come on Clark, I looked great? After I had my mother call him to take me out, I decided not to put as much effort into getting ready as I would've if I was out with a regular date. I thought I looked pretty dowdy, to tell you the truth." 

"Paris, you looked awesome in that dress, and personally, I think you look beautiful right now." 

Paris was shocked, to say the least, he told her she looked beautiful, and she wanted to say she was looking at him at the dance too. Problem was, the first time she met him was in that hallway earlier in the day. But it was so clear to Paris that he had a long crush on her, although why he did was beyond her. 

Other guys had wanted to date her, but only to settle bets that they wouldn't date the class bookworm, and she turned down each and every one. Then there was the date with Tristan, but of course that turned out to be a one night only deal. Clark actually had a vested interest in her, he looked at her like no guy had before, as a beautiful girl who he felt was his equal to her. 

"But I'm wearing my school uniform right now, which I always wear. You should see my closet at home, it looks like I stole my wardrobe from a nun, I really don't have a need to look good for people, as long as it keeps me warm, I'll wear it." 

"Paris, if I ran the world, men would be asking you out left and right, no matter what you wore. You have that natural beauty that people used to paint and write about, and you have a abrasive sense of humor that only you could pull off. When I got into class after I helped you back up, I just had to laugh at that insurance information remark you made before you ran off. And your face, your face is--" 

Clark stopped mid-sentence, and looked at her dark brown eyes, and the long, dark blond hair that surrounded her face. He loved looking at her face, it was what got him up every morning to go to school, seeing her. Paris had fascinated him ever since he started Chilton two years ago. Sure, she was mean sometimes, and she was competitive when it came to schoolwork, but he knew that inside, Paris was hurt, looking for someone to be her soulmate. He saw that side of her when she went got angry at the new girl for finding more out about her Formal date on accident, he felt her pain and embarrassment that night, and hoped it would never, ever happen again to her. 

Paris was wondering why he got so quiet suddenly, as they looked into each other's eyes. "What were you saying about my face Clark?", she asked, puzzled. 

He responded after a pause. "Paris, there's something I should've done a long time ago." Clark stood up from his seat and walked around the table towards her. He crouched down, and to Paris' surprise, his face got closer to hers. He put his hands on her cheeks, and whispered to her "I love you", then proceeded to kiss her on the lips. Emotions from ecstasy to shock ran through Paris' mind as his lips touched hers, and she lost control of the emotions she had felt for him. She responded back to Clark by kissing him back longer than the first time, deeply and passionately, happy that both of them felt the same way about each other. They both wished in their minds this moment would never end, but a minute later, they parted their lips, and Clark sat back down in his seat, happy that he had finally kissed his dream girl. 

Paris was still shaking after what had just happened, and tried to form the words to express her gratitude. She had totally forgotten about anymore romantic possibilities with Tristan, she knew now that there was only one man that she wanted, and he had just shown her he was as interested in her as she was in him. 

"Thank you Clark, that was the best kiss I've ever had. One question though, what did you mean by a long time ago?" She paused to catch her breath. 

"Paris, I've always had feelings for you, ever since the day I walked into Chilton two years ago. I never asked anyone out, because I was waiting for the right time to ask you. I even wanted to take you to the Formal, but you seemed like you already had a date for it. I never thought you'd say yes to going out with me, you seemed like you wouldn't like someone like me. But today after I collided with you, I couldn't take my mind off you anymore, I couldn't concentrate on anything after that, I just kept on thinking about the softness of your hand when I helped you get off the ground, and your words were spinning in my mind until the end of the day, despite the fact you were mad at me. Then I knew for sure, we were meant to be together, that someone up there wanted us to be a couple. Our collision course was meant to be Paris Gellar, because you are the most beautiful, smart, and driven woman I have ever met in my life." Then a few tears streamed out of his eyes, tears of joy, that he cried because he had finally admitted his feelings for her. 

Paris went over to him and started hugging Clark. "I'm so happy we met today Clark, I think it was meant to be too. I think if we would have went out earlier, we would never have found out how much we had in common, and how we could hold long conversations with each other like we had today. If you would have taken me to Formal, I still would have Tristan on my mind, and I might not have been as passionate about you as I am today, because I still had feelings for him back then. I loved feeling your hand too Clark, it felt so strong. And after you invited me here for coffee on you, alot of things went through my mind, like how cute you are, and should I make a move. When I comforted you in the car, I felt truly horrible about your father's college choice, you should go wherever you heart desires. And I haven't talked to anyone that long ever in my lifetime, I have enjoyed your company immensely. I think crashing into each other in that hallway was God's way of saying, you two should be together. I think I have found my soulmate, and that would be you Clark." Then, she kissed him again, while tears streamed down her face because of the revelations that they were meant to be together, forever, and for the rest of their lives. 

After they had calmed down and paid the bill, Paris and Clark headed out of the coffeeshop, hand in hand, while the staff looked at the two with admiration. They were happy that the two had fallen in love there, and hoped they would see more of the happy couple in the future. 

Paris drove Clark to his home in Avon, happy that she had finally found her love. She couldn't help but look at him at every stoplight, and he did the same. They were utterly and totally smitten for each other. When they arrived at his house, Paris didn't want to see him go, but she knew that she would see Clark again tomorrow at school. And she knew already she would love tomorrow. Before he got out, Clark asked her one more question. 

"Can I have your phone number?" 

Pairs would have given it to him, but she said, "I don't have a phone in my room. Shocking, I know, but I haven't had much use for one, well, until now Clark." She laughed at the embarrassment of not having this common tool of the teenage girl. 

"You do have a computer, I hope, because I know you do with all that schoolwork." 

"That I have. I'll talk to you when I get home then, my screenname is ParisG7081. Thanks for the coffee, and thanks for becoming my boyfriend Clark, this was the best day of my entire life." 

"Great, mine is Clark99032. I can't wait to talk to you again Paris. Did you just call me your boyfriend? Does this mean..." 

"Yeah Clark, I want to go out with you again, this time on a real date. Tomorrow night at 8, we'll go see a movie, how does that sound?" 

"That sounds great to me. I'll talk to you later then Paris, I love you." He gave her a good-bye kiss before he climbed out of the car. 

"I love you too Clark", Paris said, as he waved good-bye to her and walked the steps back up to his house. 

She pulled away from the curb, and headed back for Hartford. She had a smile on her face the entire way home, she was in love, and being loved by someone besides her parents for the first time in her life. 

For the first time ever, Paris Gellar didn't do her homework or study at all that night. She was too busy talking to her true love, her soulmate, on the computer. They talked until midnight that night, when her mother yelled from the great room for her to go to bed. 

And Paris and Clark would be talking to each other for many nights more.   


THE END. 

   [1]: mailto:nschimpf@excel.net



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